Basketball Betting Sites

If you enjoy betting on basketball, then you should be using a basketball betting site. More accurately, you should be using one of the best basketball sites.
This will ensure that you have an excellent, and safe, online betting experience, and get to benefit from all the advantages that the top sites have to offer.
We explain just what it is that makes them so good further down this page, but before we get to that we've listed what we consider to be the top sites at
this moment in time.

Basketball is a sport that could have been made just for betting. It's such a high speed and high scoring sport, with regular changes in momentum, that
betting on it is like riding a rollercoaster. You might be at the top of the world one minute, and throwing beer bottles at your TV the next.

Many people involved with basketball hate the fact that betting takes place on the sport. They worry about its potential for corrupting the game. They
might have a point too. Cases such as the one of Tim Donaghy, a referee who was found to be betting on games that he officiated, certainly suggest so.
However, basketball is simply too much fun to pass up on. The amount of betting action the sport attracts is testament to that.

It's not just about the fun either, as betting on basketball offers the opportunity to make good money if you know what you're doing. And of the first things
you should be doing, even if you only bet for fun, is making sure that you use a quality and trustworthy betting site. That's why we've made the recommen-
dations above. If you're looking for somewhere to place your basketball wagers, these are the places you should be joining.

You can find out more about exactly why we recommend these sites below. We've made some alternative recommendations too. There's also some further
information on basketball betting, and on the sport itself.

About Our Rankings

There are three main reasons why we recommend the sites listed at the top of this page. These are as follows.

They are safe and secure.

They provide comprehensive coverage.

They offer a good slection of wagers.

Let's take a look at why each of these three reasons are so important.

Safety & Security

There are plenty of people who think that online betting is dangerous. The media in general doesn't do a good job of covering online sports betting, so it's
not really surprising that people don't know much about it. And people often think the worst about things they don't really understand. If you're one of
these people, please allow us to address your concerns.

By using a legitimate betting site, your money will be just as safe as if you were betting with a reputable sportsbook in Nevada, or with any other
well-known bookmaker. The top sites are perfectly reputable and trustworthy, and you have nothing to worry about when using them. But it is important
that you use the right sites. There are some bad operators out there, with questionable reputation, and these must be avoided. And you will avoid them if you
stick with the sites that we recommend.

We never recommend any gambling site of any type to our readers unless we are completely confident that they are safe and legit to use.

Basketball Coverage

The sites we recommend cover the NBA, NCAA, and often some international leagues. This is important, because you want as many opportunities as possible to
make some money. If you only have the option to bet on a handful of different games, then it's much harder to find wagers with positive
expected value. If you have the option to bet a wide variety of different games, then it becomes much easier.

A good selection of wagers is important for the same reason as good coverage of basketball. You don't just need to be able to bet a variety of different games,
you also need plenty of options for how you bet on those games. If you can only place one or two different types of wager, your chances of making money will
be limited. If you have the choice of many different types of wagers, your chances improve.

More Ranking Criteria

There are also several other factors we take into account when ranking these, or any, sites. Here are a few of the things we look for that are particularly relevant
for sports betting sites.

Alternative Recommendations

We compile rankings of the best sports betting sites in several different categories, as we know that everyone has their own individual preferences and
requirements. One site might be perfect for someone, but not right at all for someone else. The sites listed at the top of this page are most definitely ideal
options if you want to bet on basketball, but there are some alternatives you might want to consider.

If you bet mostly from your mobile device, for example, then you might want to consider a site that is particularly good for mobile betting. We've ranked
the best sites for mobile betting, and the majority of these cover basketball very well.

You might want to consider using a specialist live betting site too. Live, or in-play, betting is ideal for basketball. The fast pace of the game makes for an
intense experience when betting on the action as it happens. The sites on the following page are the best options for live betting, and they all cover at
least most basketball matches from the major leagues.

The final alternatives to consider are those that are good for a range of different sports. This won't be relevant to you if you only bet on basketball, but if
you do bet on other sports then there are some advantages of using the sites that we rank as the best sports betting sites overall.

How to Bet on Basketball

There are four main wagers that account for the majority of betting action on basketball. These are follows.

Point Spreads

Moneylines

Totals

Props

Point Spreads

Point spreads generally have very similar odds for both teams, but the favored team must win by a certain margin for a wager on them to be successful.
The underdog has to lose by no more than a certain margin for a wager on them to be successful. Here's an example of a point spread that might be
offered by a bookmaker.

Portland vs MiamiPoint Spread

Portland (+5)

-110

Miami (-5)

-110

In this case, you'd need Miami to win by more than five points if betting on them. If betting on Portland, you'd need them to win or lose by less than five
points. A bet on either team would be a push (tie), if Miami won by exactly five points. -110 are the odds for each wager, which means a $110 stake is
required to win $100.

Moneylines

Moneyline wagers are simply bets on which team is going to win the game. The odds for a team will reflect their chances of winning. The favored teams
have lower odds than the underdogs. Here's how the moneyline might look for the match referenced above.

Portland vs MiamiMoneyline Betting

Portland

+170

Miami

-210

Totals

Totals are wagers on the total combined score of both teams. A basketball betting site will set a figure that they think will be close to the total score, and
you then bet on whether the actual total score will be higher or lower than that figure. This is how the totals market might look for the match between
Portland and Miami.

Portland vs MiamiTotals Betting

Over (193)

-105

Under (193)

-115

Totals are a very simple way to bet on basketball. This perhaps explains why they are so popular, even though it's not particularly easy to make accurate
predictions regarding the total number of points scored.

Props

Prop bets are big in basketball. Some of the best basketball betting sites regularly host upwards of 100 different prop bets for a single game. Wagers of
this type are typically on outcomes that are related to the game, but not necessarily related to the final outcome. Here are some examples.

Portland vs Miami1st team to reach 10 points

Portland

+115

Miami

-115

Portland vs MiamiMatch to go into overtime?

Yes

+750

No

-2000

Portland vs MiamiDwayne Wade Total Points

Over (19)

-115

Under (19)

-105

This information is pretty much all you need to start betting on basketball, but there's a lot more to learn if you want the best chance of making some
money. We're currently working on a comprehensive basketball betting guide for our website, and this will be an excellent resource for anyone wanting
to improve their basketball betting skills.

March Madness Betting

There are several ways to bet on basketball, but arguably the
most thrilling basketball betting scene goes down in March
Madness. Basketball fans of all walks of life enjoy the
excitement of the yearly college basketball tournament, which
sets up an intense bracket to help decide each year's college
basketball national champion.

March Madness is most well known for fans filling out their
brackets, as numerous websites offer printable and online
brackets where fans can dissect and ultimately predict the
outcome for each game. With While a perfect bracket is hard to
come by, part of the fun can be correctly predicting early round
upsets, while also seeing how many teams can last to the Final
Four, or even the title game.

On top of the bracket challenge amongst friends, family and
co-workers, March Madness also allows for one of the best
basketball betting periods of the season. College basketball
betting goes down all year, but March Madness opens the door to
individual game betting, bracket betting, and long-term national
champion bets.

College basketball's most prestigious tourney has certainly
been no stranger to serious betting action, with the amount of
money being spent on March Madness betting growing by the year.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) reported a whopping $9
billion in March Madness bets in 2015 and that number only grew
($9.2 billion) in 2016.

The current makeup of the March Madness tournament allows for
68 total teams, with four teams battling in the First Four to
simply get into the tourney, and the rest of the teams battling
it out in a single-elimination tournament to decide who gets to
play for the title.

About the Sport of Basketball

The basketball betting guide mentioned above will also include a detailed section on the sport itself. This will be useful and interesting for anyone who
wants to know more about basketball. Learning more about the sport is a good idea for betting purposes too, as solid basketball knowledge can only help
when making betting decisions.